


if you want to, you have to go through me!

by yesterdaychild



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 11:36:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1093443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yesterdaychild/pseuds/yesterdaychild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set after the first season of Free!. Rin is a dork who is still trying to figure out his relationships with other people. Including the blossoming one between his captain and Gou.</p>
    </blockquote>





	if you want to, you have to go through me!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clearlykero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clearlykero/gifts).



> Set after the first season of Free!. Rin is a dork who is still trying to figure out his relationships with other people. Including the blossoming one between his captain and Gou.

"Hey Aiichirou," Matsuoka asked casually, "Do you have any siblings?"

In an effort to make good on his recent declarations of friendship, Matsuoka had been tossing casual, non-invasive questions about Nitori to his kouhai every so often. Initially Nitori had whirled round in his seat to eagerly answer those precious questions, but now he barely looked up from his Math problems.

"I've got a couple of older sisters, Matsuoka-senpai," he mumbled around the eraser point in his mouth, brows furrowed at the trigonometry before him. It was late and he really needed to get this done before the next day.

"Mmmmmm," Matsuoka drew out the syllable. There was a brief pause, in which the older boy muttered to himself, "That's not quite the same, is it," and then he asked, "What would you do if they ever had a boyfriend, Aiichirou?"

Nitori stared down his trigonometry problem and tried to formulate a semi-coherent answer before realising it required a proper response. He whirled round in his chair, to find Matsuoka lying on his bed, staring up at his mobile phone.

"I think I'd be pretty worried about them if they ever got into trouble with boys, but at this point I think my sisters are more worried about me," Nitori said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know for sure they'd be very protective."

"Mmmmmmm," Matsuoka grumbled, levelling a glare at his phone before putting it away.

"Um, Matsuoka-senpai has a sister, right?" Nitori asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Matsuoka said, before suddenly whipping his head around to stare at his junior. "And she's off limits, okay?!"

Nitori jumped at the sudden growl in his senpai's voice, but it had lost a lot of the grim menace that it had had when he had been in the heat of the competition with the Iwatobi Club. He said, "Don't worry senpai, she's really not my type!" and before he could overshare, went back to his trigonometry.

"Good," Matsuoka grunted, then picked his phone up again.

*

"Nooooo," Rin mock-bellowed as he lost for the fifth time running to Makoto. He threw the controller down and rolled his eyes at Makoto, who was outright having a laugh at him. Haruka smirked slightly, but flattened it away when he caught Rin looking.

"You're unfairly good at this," Rin grumbled. "It's so unfair."

"I've had a lot more practice since I live at home," Makoto said good-naturedly. "And Haru plays with me pretty often."

Haru nodded. "You should come over more often, Rin, " he said.

Rin shrugged, and was about to answer when the door slid open and Gou came in.

"What are you doing here?" Rin said to his sister.

"Mum said you were here, so I came over to spend quality time with my older bro and his friends!"

"Don't you have homework to do?" Rin said, then hissed, "And do you just go over to boys' houses so easily?!"

"It's a Fri-i-i-day," Gou complained. "And besides, you're here, aren't you? But I guess, if oniichan isn't happy that I'm here, I'll just go home alone, in the dark..."

Rin's mouth twisted in annoyance. When had his little sister learned to talk like that?

"Scoot over, Makoto," he bumped shoulders with the older boy, then shifted over himself. "You're sitting on this side, okay?" He said to Gou, in what he hoped was a tone that brooked no argument.

Gou's eyes danced as she wedged herself between her brother and the wall, then she leaned over and stole Rin's controller before he could say anything.

"Play with me, Makoto-senpai!" she asked, and as Makoto humoured her, Rin couldn't help but roll his eyes at his brat of a little sister.

At some point in the night, when Gou was taking another one of her toilet breaks, Makoto took the chance to nudge Rin in the shoulder. "You're really protective of Gou-chan."

Run bristled slightly. "She's my little sister," he said, warning in his tone.

"Relax, Rin," Makoto put up his hands defensively, laughing it off. "I'm just wondering what's up, and if I can help. I am her buchou, after all."

Buchous, Rin thought sourly.

"I was texting Gou the other day, and she said she was going home when it was really late. When I told her off she said it was okay, she was with someone who could protect her, but she refused to say who."

Makoto raised an eyebrow, Haru mirroring him as he hovered over Makoto's shoulder. "She has the right to her privacy, after all."

"I know that," Rin grumbled, "But it's really hard to be cool. I mean, someone who's clearly strong enough to protect her is also strong enough to take advantage of her. And you and I both know the kinds of thoughts boys have."

Haru and Makoto blushed mysteriously at that, and Run raised an arched eyebrow. "WELL," he said, slightly flustered, "It's true, isn't it?"

Makoto cleared his throat and said, "Maybe you should talk to her on the way home later and assess the situation. See if this guy is a threat."

Haru said, "It's the Samezuka captain, isn't it?"

Rin sighed. "Knowing my luck, probably."

Makoto reached over to pat Rin's arm, saying, "If it's another buchou, I'll back you up if you need me to, Rin." Then he picked up the controller and slanted a smirk at Rin. "Now get ready to get smashed again."

*

The train ride home was pretty empty, but Rin still couldn't find the words to phrase his questions to Gou. Besides, she was tapping furiously at her phone, which was chiming every half a minute or so.

"So how's school, Gou?"

"Nnmm," she replied noncommitably, fingers tapping away. When she was done with her message, she switched back to some image search app, and scrolled through until a message came through again.

"And how are your classmates?" Rin tried again.

"Nnhhrrmmnmm," Gou replied again.

Rin was getting seriously ticked off. His attempts at conversation were going spectacularly nowhere. He decided to try something even more direct.

"Got any boys chasing after you?"

That got Gou's attention, even for a little bit. "That's a super inappropriate question, oniichan," she said, rolling her eyes at him and turning back to her pictures of muscular boys making out with each other.

(Seriously? Was his sister turning into a fujoshi before his very eyes?)

Frustrated by Gou's reticence, Rin decided to try an experiment. He pulled his own phone out, faking a sigh of resignation.

 _Buchou_ , he texted, _I'm feeling a little unwell right now so I don't know if I'll be at practice tomorrow evening._

There wasn't a reply for awhile, though Gou's phone chimed once or twice more before Mikoshiba's reply came through.

_Come up with a better excuse to skive off, Matsuoka. 20 extra laps tomorrow._

Rin was seriously ticked off now.

_Who told you? Was it Gou?_

Predictably, there was no reply all the way home.

Rin smirked to himself even as he felt a dark sourness settle in the pit of his stomach.

Oh, it was on. Twenty laps notwithstanding, it was so on.

Mikoshiba could give him all the laps he wanted. He was still going to tear the guy apart.

*

Rin was at practice early the next day, finishing up the extra laps before his teammates arrived. He pulled himself out of the water as his captain approached.

"I finished the extra laps," he threw at Mikoshiba like a gauntlet, baring his teeth. "Now I want to know what you're doing texting my little sister."

"Look," Mikoshiba said impassively, looking more like a solid rock with his arms crossed tight against his chest. Their teammates were all staring. "We can talk about this after practice. We're men, right?"

Rin narrowed his eyes at him, unsure of what he was planning. "Fine. Don't run away, buchou."

Mikoshiba bristled slightly at that, clearly irritated by Rin's attitude. But Nitori pulled Rin away at that point to stretch, and Mikoshiba raised his voice to suggest that everybody else do the same.

To Mikoshiba's credit, practice passed without any further drama. The captain looked over their practice with his customary keen eye, but coolly passed over Rin like usual. Unnerved to the lack of confrontation, Rin went into the locker rooms resolving to give no quarter.

Mikoshiba took his time. If Rin hadn't known the captain had things to settle with the coach and his committee, he would have said that Mikoshiba was biding his time, deliberately letting Rin wait. After all, Rin was the one who wanted this, more than Mikoshiba did. Well, Rin thought grimly, _If anyone wants to get at Gou, they have to go through me first._

It felt like an age had passed before Mikoshiba came out of the clubroom. "Yo," he said easily.

"Buchou," Rin said, standing up. "Let's find a place to talk."

In the end, they slipped into an empty classroom. One that wasn't either one of theirs, a tacit agreement to keep it neutral. Mikoshiba took the seat next to Rin's, putting his bag down on the table before saying, "You had something to say to me?"

"Yes," Rin grunted. "I want to ask you what your relationship with Gou is."

"Blunt, as always," Mikoshiba raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, I'm not going to draw it out. Matsuoka. I am interested in Gou-kun."

"Don't call her that," Rin said reflexively. Then he frowned at Mikoshiba. "I can't allow you to pursue it."

"What can I do to change your mind?" Mikoshiba said.

Rin was about to retort that there wasn't anything that he could do, but he caught Mikoshiba's eye before he could say a word.

His captain was turned toward him, leaning forward with his hands clasped together, elbows on his knees. His eyes were steady and serious, and that cocksure tilt to his mouth was replaced with a line of determination. This was not the face of a player, Rin realised with a jolt - this was his captain with his game face on.

"How do I know your intentions are true?" He said to Mikoshiba challengingly. "How do I know I can trust my sister to you?"

"You don't," Mikoshiba acknowledged, "But I promise you I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her."

Rin shorted. "Words are wind, buchou. You and I both know that boys can't be trusted." He raised an eyebrow at Mikoshiba, intimating all he meant with a look.

To his credit, Mikoshiba did not flinch from Rin's look, nor did he deny being that sort of boy. He shrugged, however, and said, "I'm not going to stop seeing her just because you threaten me, Matsuoka. But I respect that you're a concerned older brother. So let's do it this way, Matsuoka. I'll tell you every time I'm spending time with Gou-kun, on one condition."

Rin was taken aback. A compromise had never even occurred to him. "What?"

"You need to tell Gou-kun that I'm telling you. I'm not going to hide such a thing from her. But it has to be you who tells her."

Rin considered it. His captain's compromise seemed fair enough, but, "How do I know you won't lie to me?"

Mikoshiba raised an eyebrow. "You really don't trust me, do you?" Rin didn't budge, and his buchou sighed. "Fine," he said, digging around in his pocket for his phone. He wrestled with an app, then raised he phone and said into it, "If I ever lie to Matsuoka Rin about seeing Gou-kun, I'll resign from my captaincy." Then he hit the share button and emailed it to Rin.

Rin's phone chimed, right on cue.

"Happy now?" Mikoshiba said, crossing his arms.

"Fine," Rin said. "But if you ever hurt Gou -"

"You'll kill me, yes, I know," his buchou sighed. "I don't think you realise you might have to get in line with the rest of your Iwatobi pals. I know, Matsuoka. I get it. Gou-kun is a great girl, and has a whole host of male friends willing to guard her life and chastity. I know."

Rin snorted. As if the Iwatobi kids were really that threatening.

*

Iwatobi had weekly joint practice with Samezuka in a couple of days, so Rin bided his time. He ended up texting Gou early on Wednesday morning to say, _cum 2 samezuka early 2day, I want 2 talk 2 u._

 _Okay!_ He could practically hear Gou chirping over text at him.

In the end he took Gou out of Samezuka Academy to talk. They sat sipping at milkshakes, Gou checking her phone momentarily until Rin said, "I need to tell you something, Kou."

"What is it, oniichan?" Gou said distractedly, reading a text off her phone.

"I asked Mikoshiba about you and him."

Gou's eyes flew open, and Rin saw her flush and sit a little straighter. "T-there's nothing going on between us!"

Rin tried his best not to look sullen and smile instead, but he ended up with a half-annoyed look on his face.

"Look," he said, "Buchou really likes you, so do you like him or not?"

Gou full out blushed, pinking the tops of her ears.

"It's a simple question, Gou," Rin said patiently. "If you don't, I'll tell him to stay well away from you."

Gou's eyes rounded and she blurted, "I like spending time with him!" She subsided, embarrassed, and said, "But I don't know if I like him."

Rin sighed. "Well, he and I made out a deal, okay? He can continue seeing you as long as he tells me he's meeting with you."

To his surprise, Gou's expression turned confused, and then a little annoyed. "Why'd you do that oniichan? I can take care of myself."

Rin rolled his eyes at his sister and ran a hand through his hair. "It's not like I'm asking to follow you out on your dates or something! I just - look, Gou, and listen carefully. You can't trust boys, okay? They'll sweet talk you and tell you nice things but they'll also leave you heartbroken when shit gets tough. I'm just trying to make sure that anyone who chases you is really sure and careful with you. And someday when you're older you can tell me to stop but for now, little sister, if you're going to date my captain, these are my conditions, okay?"

Gou rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, oniichan, it's not like you've ever cared before."

Rin sighed. "We don't have a dad so I have to be the one doing this, okay?" He touched Gou's arm. "Don't be mad at me, little sister. And if buchou ever does something you don't like and need me to deal with it, you know you can tell me, okay?"

Gou became a little flustered at that, but she nodded.

Rin looked at her, his little snip of a kid sister, then got up to sit next to her, slinging an arm around her. "Hey," he said jokingly, "That's what big brothers are for, alright?"

Gou turned to him and smiled. "I guess so. And I promise I won't break your trust." She reached round Rin and gave him a hug.

"Okay," Rin patted her back. "Okay, now let's go back to training."

*

**omake**

Rin's phone chimed, then chimed again, insistently until he broke out of his mid-afternoon nap.

"What's happening?" He mumbled into the phone.

"Oniichan, help - Seijuurou - I" Gou broke off with a half-scream-half-squeal, and the line died.

Rin sprang awake, and saw a text message he'd missed from his buchou. "Spending the day with Gou at yours," it said.

Rin sprang out of bed, immediately awake. His mind ran to all the places it didn't want to, and he hastily threw all his clothes on and hit the door running. He dialled home while he was at it - it kept ringing out and shit, his mother was out or at work or something, wasn't she? But this concerned her daughter and her daughter's dignity -

Rin shook his head and ran full tilt for the train.

When he burst through the door of Gou's room, he saw nobody there. The room was spick and span, the bedcovers pulled up and taut as she made them every morning before leaving for school. He left and closed the door, puzzled and heart racing, desperately seeking an answer but without his brain catching up.

He went to his room instead. But before he could open the door, it was flung open for him instead.

"SURPRISE!" An entire room full of people chorused. Rin was stunned into silence - everybody was there. Led by Nagisa and Gou, the faces of the Iwatobi boys, his buchou, Ai, his mother - they were all beaming, cheering and clapping at him.

"Happy birthday, oniichan," Gou slipped forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Mikoshiba gave him a sheepish grin, which Rin returned.

"You brat! You gave me such a scare!" he scolded, but he was smiling and starting to laugh. "Thank you, everyone," Rin said, holding his sister in one arm and his mother in the other, and knowing that all these people were all he needed for family.


End file.
